I love boxes. Theyâre great ways to contain items that youâll need laterâlunch, summer clothes, and Christmas decorations, to name a few. However, Iâve learned over the years that one thing that canât be put into a box is God.
We try to put God in all kinds of boxesâlimiting what God looks like or does. We even tend to do this with our prayersâpraying for God to do specific things: healing a friendâs cancer or giving us an opportunity we really want. While these prayers are important and good, itâs also important to open ourselves to another way of praying: breakthrough prayer.
Breakthrough prayers begin with the understanding that God cannot be containedâGod is beyond anything our minds can fathom! Breakthrough prayers invite the Holy Spirit to unleash more than we could ever ask, think, or imagine in our lives, the church, and the world.
On October 29, we began a worship series called Dynamite Prayer, in which we are learning how to open ourselves to Godâs divine, dynamite power. Yes, we already started the worship series. Yes, the Sunday School is well underway. However: itâs never too late to pick up a book either at the church or online and start praying!
As we look to 2024, where is God leading us? How is God calling us to be grace in action? How can we create safe spaces to grow with God and one another? How does God want us to be courageously inclusive? Where is God already working in our community? What incredible things is God leading YOU to do that you havenât even imagined yet?
In January 2024, we begin our new governance structure with our Leadership Board. While they are tasked with setting the vision and goals for BUMC, they donât do that in a vacuumâinput and feedback from our whole community is vital in living out Godâs vision for us!
So, on November 29th at 5:30, weâll gather for a âDynamite Prayer Potluck.â Bring a dish to share (homemade or purchased!) as well as the dreams and ideas God has shared with you. Then, at 7:00, weâll have our final Church Council meeting and pray for the ways God is continuing to lead Brecksville United Methodist Church into 2024 and beyond.
If you have any boxes, you can break them down and put them in the recycling here at church. Because nothing can contain the power of God or the possibilities of this faith community!
Take care,
Pastor Heidi
Rev. Heidi Welch, Senior Pastor